The number of tourists from Russia has almost doubled in Dubai in the first half of the year

“Over 230,000 tourists from Russia visited Dubai in the first half of 2017, which is 97% more than in the same period a year earlier”, - the Dubai Tourism and Commercial Marketing Department reported. "Strategic changes in the way of entry into UAE, according to which the citizens of China and Russia are able to receive a visa just after arrival, continue to confirm their effectiveness. In comparison with the first half of 2016, the number of tourists who came to Dubai from Russia increased by 97%, amounting 233 thousand people", - said in the statement. The total number of foreign tourists visited Dubai for at least one night in the first half of 2017 was 8.06 million, or 10.6% more than in the same period of the last year. Russia has confirmed its place in the TOP10 of the leaders by the number of guests visiting the Emirate. From India to Dubai for the first time came more than 1 million tourists, which is 21% higher than the results of the first half of 2016. The second and third places in the list permanently occupied by Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom, 413 thousand tourists came from China (55% more than in the first half of the last year). As reported in the department, 21% of the incoming tourist flow to Dubai are tourists from Western Europe, 19% of tourists come from Persian Gulf countries, 11% from North and South-East Asia, 7% from Russia, CIS countries and Eastern Europe.